Beijing: What an opportunity Novak Djokovic opened up when he chose not to participate in the China Open, and how efficiently Andy Murray took advantage.
Murray romped through Sunday’s final against Grigor Dimitrov to complete a perfect week — five successive straight-sets wins — and continue his pursuit of the world No. 1 ranking.
Djokovic’s lead of 3,695 points is almost two grand-slam titles’ worth. But he also has a hefty 3,300 more points to defend over the final six weeks of this season, having won 14 of his last 15 matches in 2016.
It would be a surprise if he managed to repeat that sort of form, given his long break since the US Open and his talk of psychological burnout. On the other hand, Murray will also be digging deep into his own energy reserves as he attempts to continue what has been a career-best season.
His schedule includes not only the three mandatory events that conclude the season, starting with Shanghai this week, but also a 500-point tournament in Vienna at the end of October.
Murray said in New York last month that “March or April time is a more realistic chance [of overtaking Djokovic] than doing it this year” but there is a sense now, particularly after yesterday’s win, that the game is afoot in earnest. Bear in mind that Djokovic’s record at the China Open is perfect: 29 wins from 29 matches, with six titles along the way. He effectively dropped 500 points by opting not to attend — a decision he justified with the argument that “tennis is not the only thing in the world”. That may be true, but the steadiness of Murray’s focus has only improved since his life was enriched by the arrival of baby daughter Sophia in February. Now he has a clear target to aim for. “I know he’s pretty close and I know it’s his goal,” said his mother Judy in a recent interview.
“Usually if he puts his mind to something he’s pretty good at getting there.” Murray started as the strong favourite against Dimitrov, thanks partly to the one-sidedness of their match at the US Open. He was in charge almost throughout, apart from one short spell at the end of the second set when he was broken to love while serving for the title. Dimitrov seemed to find inspiration from a spectacular “tweener” he had produced at the end of the previous game, and snatched eight successive points to help earn a tie-break. But Murray regrouped and came up with a series of heavy forehands to claim the tie-break 7-2, and thus the match by a 6-4, 7-6 scoreline.
The title was the 40th of Murray’s career, and takes him into a select group: only 16 men have won so many events. Earlier, Johanna Konta had played a final of her own in Beijing, but could not cope with the ingenuity and range of Agnieszka Radwanska’s strokes as she went down 6-4, 6-2.
Nevertheless, this has been a hugely successful week for Konta, who has almost certainly claimed a place at the lucrative WTA Finals in Singapore later this month, while also earning a spot among the world’s top 10 for the first time. Konta will stand at No. 9 in the new rankings table, thus becoming the first British woman with a single-digit ranking since Jo Durie 32 years ago. Meanwhile the former US Open champion Samantha Stosur has given a critical response to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to reduce Maria Sharapova’s doping ban. “I can’t believe it, actually,” Stosur said in Hong Kong. “I don’t know how you can get away with that excuse [of not knowing that meldonium was on the banned list] and have that overturned.”
